Walking Prepared for Battle

As many of you know I really enjoy skeet shooting.  In fact, I really, really, enjoy skeet shooting.  Walking around on the skeet field with the other shooters brings about a certain joy and comfort to the sport.  I even enjoy breaking down my gun and cleaning it so that it looks and operates great.  I suppose you could say that preparing to go shooting is a good part of the fun.  As with any sport the more you begin to understand the intricacies of it the more you appreciate it.  I used to wonder how one friend could watch NASCAR races when the cars just went round and round the track. When he took me to one race and we got to hear the pit crew in action I began to see just how complicated this sport really was.  Racers want every edge because that is what it takes to be the victor.

In our Christian lives the race is often run with very little understanding of why or how we should be running.  Many Christians run within their own power and are incapable to handle obstacles that come their way.  God wants to equip us for the run of a lifetime through the empowerment of His Word.  Part of running the race or entering the battle field for Christ is understanding our enemy.  That understanding happens by spending time in God's strategy Book--His Word.  The more we know God's desires and His truths, the more we can run to victory and avoid defeat.  There is a battle for our minds, and God tells us that we are to continue to renew our minds, and that occurs by studying His Word (Romans 12:1-2).  Life transformation and victory over Satan is possible when we walk with the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) in hand.  Jesus Christ needed to know God's Word as it was the very tool that allowed Him to defeat Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4).  In moments of weakness, Satan works to help us rationalize God's Word and question the authority of God.  Our greatest offense against the enemy is the Word of God that has proven the test of time.  Satan's desire is to keep us too busy and ignorant of truth--just live a good life.  But, that is not good enough!

I want to be a warrior for Christ, and I desire to intimidate Satan by my walk in Christ.  When we enter Satan's domain in the world around us, may we be equipped for battle.  It is not necessary to run to church and to hide out at home after work in order to avoid the enemy because "greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).  We can be a threat to the evil one by being prepared for battle!